Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what specific actions the Department is taking, in response to the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, published on 6 November 2025, to improve access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody.

We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations.

The Department is committed to working with partners to reduce health inequalities for prisoners and is a signatory of the National Partnership Agreement which supports commissioning and delivery of appropriate service in prisons. We recognise that there is more we need to do to address health issues for this cohort. In addition, NHS England is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026, which should provide opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.

With specific regard to improving access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody, the Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The toolkit is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/continuity-of-care-from-prison-to-community-self-assessment-tool